One day, a scorpion looked around at
the mountain where he lived and decided that he wanted a change. So he set out
on a journey through the forests and hills. He climbed over rocks and under
vines and kept going until he reached a river.
The river was wide and swift, and the scorpion stopped to reconsider the
situation. He couldn't see any way across. So he ran upriver and then checked
downriver, all the while thinking that he might have to turn back.
Suddenly, he saw a frog sitting in the rushes by the bank of the stream on
the other side of the river. He decided to ask the frog for help getting across
the stream.
"Hellooo Mr. Frog!" called the scorpion across the water, "Would you be so
kind as to give me a ride on your back across the river?"
"Well now, Mr. Scorpion! How do I know that if I try to help you, you wont
try to kill me?" asked the frog hesitantly.
"Because," the scorpion replied, "If I try to kill you, then I would die too,
for you see I cannot swim!"
Now this seemed to make sense to the frog. But he asked. "What about when I
get close to the bank? You could still try to kill me and get back to the
shore!"
"This is true," agreed the scorpion, "But then I wouldn't be able to get to
the other side of the river!"
"Alright then...how do I know you wont just wait till we get to the other
side and THEN kill me?" said the frog.
"Ahh...," crooned the scorpion, "Because you see, once you've taken me to the
other side of this river, I will be so grateful for your help, that it would
hardly be fair to reward you with death, now would it?!"
So the frog agreed to take the scorpion across the river. He swam over to the
bank and settled himself near the mud to pick up his passenger. The scorpion
crawled onto the frog's back, his sharp claws prickling into the frog's soft
hide, and the frog slid into the river. The muddy water swirled around them, but
the frog stayed near the surface so the scorpion would not drown. He kicked
strongly through the first half of the stream, his flippers paddling wildly
against the current.
Halfway across the river, the frog suddenly felt a sharp sting in his back
and, out of the corner of his eye, saw the scorpion remove his stinger from the
frog's back. A deadening numbness began to creep into his limbs.
"You fool!" croaked the frog, "Now we shall both die! Why on earth did you do
that?"
The scorpion shrugged, and did a little jig on the drownings frog's back.
"I could not help myself. It is my nature."
Then they both sank into the muddy waters of the swiftly flowing river.
This morning Mummy thought she'd be nice and take the wasp that had managed to get inside the house back outside and not kill it.
It gave her a nasty sting on the thumb.
Ouch!
No comments:
Post a Comment